It’s been the first talk I’ve done this year, doubting whether I had something original to add to the narrative. The fact of the matter is, original or not, sharing something valuable is always a good strategy.

“We try as hard as we can to sound just like someone we admire; someone who evokes a strong feeling that we would like to emulate. The best part is, no matter how hard we try to copy, we wind up sounding like a version of ourselves.”

That’s why if you are trying to come up with something new, you are far better off improving or building upon something that already exists.

You could call it iteration.

Thank you for supporting this issue,

- Ross

Note: I’ve stuck with the two key things I’m passionate about. Better to go deep than to go wide 😂

Pentagram partner Natasha Jen shares her views on “design thinking” as a buzzword. Natasha describes herself as a graphic designer and talks about what we mean by design thinking and what it does to our world and ourselves. Try putting “design thinking” into Google Images and you’ll start to see she may have a point.

I’ve been involved with design and the internet for over a decade now and I’ve found that more than ever, design-led companies are outperforming those that aren’t. I share my views on how design and business have a close relationship and how design-led companies outperform those that aren’t.

There’s a high-demand career path for designers in tech. I up my skills by Googling specific things I need to learn - such as “design critiques.” Because so many people work at Facebook, many have shared their experiences of “what good looks like” to better educate the design community. It’s quite likely Facebook DID invent the term “product designer.”

I’ve been enjoying Jon Westenberg’s posts of late. I agree - I too like people bullish in what they believe in, but not to the extent where you’re a dick about it. Stay firm, accept criticism and know when to stop.